X GAMES 16

Highlights: San Diego skaters seek to continue their domination tonight in Skateboard Big Air at the Coliseum.

Info: expn.com

During a two-hour skateboarding session at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday, Encinitas’ Andy Macdonald took in the historic facility, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, and the setting’s aura struck him.

“I was feeling Carl Lewis’ presence,” Macdonald said. “It was like 1984 all over again.”

X Games 16 kicks off today in Los Angeles with its first visit to the ivy-covered Coliseum, the only structure to host the Olympics, multiple Super Bowls and a World Series. As it has for years, the ESPN made-for-TV event wastes no time delivering a marquee event.

Tonight’s prime-time special: the can-you-top-this (and survive) Skateboard Big Air. Big Air features skateboarders swooping down a 70-foot ramp, performing a trick while flying across a gap, landing on a wooden ramp, then flying up a 27-foot wall, performing another midair trick.

Or as most remember it, the spectacle that nearly cost Jake Brown his life.

Brown’s frightening 2007 crash, which sent his shoes flying in opposite directions, is the X Games’ defining moment.

As for the event itself, it has been dominated by San Diego County skaters. All 18 medals in Big Air’s six-year history have been awarded to locals.

The reason is simple: before skaters can step up to the megaramp, they must perfect the 13-foot vert ramp. And vert skating, with Tony Hawk’s influence and the numerous facilities throughout the county, is dominated by San Diegans.

“The Big Air ramp is like vert skating to the 20th degree,” said Macdonald. “That style of skating is one of the most fun forms of skating. It’s not even skateboarding. It’s more like stunt work. You’re riding with such a different mindset.”

Here’s a fascinating bit of skateboarding trivia: In a sport that appeals to preteens and teenagers, every Big Air winner has been at least 30 years old when he won the gold medal.

Brown is now 35. Vista’s Bob Burnquist, who owns a megaramp on his Vista spread, is 33. Encinitas’ Danny Way, the originator of the event, is 36. For the second year in a row, he’s passing on his creation. His reasoning: Way hasn’t progressed tricks to his level of satisfaction.

“If I’m not on the level where I think I should be, if I’m not meeting everyone else’s expectations, including my own,” Way said, “I’m not going to go through the motions.”

Contrasting the old guns will be 15-year-old Brazilian Pedro Barros. Burnquist will be favored to win the event for a third time.

Rumor has it the indestructible Brown will attempt a 2 1/2-revolution, 900-degree spin atop the 27-foot quarter-pipe wall.